diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/servlet/MockMvc.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/servlet/MockMvc.java
index 6c503adf5db..3606109ef19 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/servlet/MockMvc.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/web/servlet/MockMvc.java
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponseWrapper;
 
+import org.apache.tools.ant.dispatch.Dispatchable;
+
 import org.springframework.beans.Mergeable;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.mock.web.MockFilterChain;
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.web.context.request.RequestAttributes;
 import org.springframework.web.context.request.RequestContextHolder;
 import org.springframework.web.context.request.ServletRequestAttributes;
+import org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet;
 
 /**
  * <strong>Main entry point for server-side Spring MVC test support.</strong>
@@ -122,6 +125,24 @@ public final class MockMvc {
 		this.defaultResultHandlers = resultHandlers;
 	}
 
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the underlying {@link DispatcherServlet} instance that this
+	 * {@code MockMvc} was initialized with.
+	 * <p>This is intended for use in custom request processing scenario where
+	 * a request handling component happens to delegate to the
+	 * {@code DispatcherServlet} at runtime and therefore needs to be injected
+	 * with it.
+	 * <p>For most processing scenarios, simply use {@link MockMvc#perform}, or
+	 * if you need to configure the {@code DispatcherServlet}, provide a
+	 * {@link DispatcherServletCustomizer} to the {@code MockMvcBuilder}.
+	 * @since 5.1
+	 */
+	public DispatcherServlet getDispatcherServlet() {
+		return this.servlet;
+	}
+
+
 	/**
 	 * Perform a request and return a type that allows chaining further
 	 * actions, such as asserting expectations, on the result.